Manage Instruments

To add, modify, and view the details of connected instruments, you will use Instruments view.

Instruments view has a simple layout.

 

Instruments List

This pane contains list of all active instruments that the Keysight Instrument Discovery Service has auto-discovered, as well as those that have been added manually.

Available toolbar buttons

Most instruments are automatically discovered by the Keysight Instrument Discovery Service. Those are automatically listed in the Instruments view list without taking any action. Instruments are listed under the interface to which they belong.

There are times when you will need to explicitly add an interface or instrument to your configuration. To add an interface or instrument manually, click then select the instrument or interface you want to add. Enter the appropriate information and click OK to save the changes.

Saving the configuration

The OK button is enabled if you have made changes. When you have finished, click OK to save your changes or Cancel to close the dialog without saving.

 

To rescan or refresh the Instruments List, click Rescan All .

The Keysight Instrument Discovery Service scans most interfaces continually to discover new instruments and update the status of existing instruments. When you click Rescan All, the Keysight Instrument Discovery Service restarts the discovery process. In this process, the Discovery Service scans available I/O interfaces (GPIB, USB, LAN, etc.) to identify new instruments and to verify the status of previously-discovered instruments. You can see details of the discovery process on the help page About Instrument Discovery and Identification. When using Rescan All, keep the following in mind:

  • The Discovery Service runs in background, so you can continue working with Connection Expert and with your instruments while discovery proceeds. Any changes (such as new instruments or changes in connection status) will be shown in Connection Expert as they are discovered.

  • Certain instruments can be discovered only on rescan or at PC startup. These include:
    • GPIB instruments if auto-scan is unavailable or turned off on the GPIB interface, or if the interface has open sessions
    • Older LAN instruments that conform to LXI 1.2 (rather than LXI 1.3 or later)

  • In addition to discovering new interfaces and new instruments, the rescan process verifies all known instruments on each known interface. This is done even if auto-discovery is turned off for the interface.

To show only a subset of your instruments, or to find a particular instrument, use the filter instruments search field (if it isn't visible, click the Filter button ). As you type a criteria in the filter field, the Available instruments list dynamically updates to display only those instruments that match the filter. You can filter on any of the following items:

  • Manufacturer
  • Model name
  • Serial number
  • Description of instrument
  • Visa address
  • Aliases
  • Firmware Version
  • Interface or Instrument Type (if you specify an interface type, such as GPIB, only GPIB interfaces and instruments display; if you specify an instrument, the instruments are listed under their interfaces)

For example, you can show all TCPIP instruments, all SOCKET instruments, or all instruments with firmware version 1.00 (this filter will match any instrument whose firmware version or any other information includes the string, "1.00"). The filter field is not case sensitive.

About the Instruments list

The Keysight Instrument Discovery Service auto-discovers many instruments that are physically connected to your PC or are on your local LAN subnet. Auto-discovered instruments are shown in Instruments view automatically, either when discovered or when you click Rescan All to rescan the instrument list. LAN instruments on a local subnet are discovered but may not be automatically added to the My Instruments list; these must be manually added. See Add a LAN Instrument. Instruments that have been auto-discovered previously, but which are not at this moment discoverable (if they may be powered off for example), are shown with a in the instruments list.

(See About Instrument Discovery and Identification for an explanation of how instruments are auto-discovered.)

You can also right-click on any instrument or interface in this pane to get a menu of shortcuts.

If an instrument is not shown

If an instrument you are expecting to see is not shown in the Instruments view, rescan. To rescan all interfaces, click Rescan All in the Instruments list toolbar. To rescan only instruments pertaining to a single interface, select the interface on the left, then click Rescan.

Then, consider the following:

  • If the Keysight Instrument Discovery Service auto-discovered an instrument at an earlier time, but can no longer communicate with that instrument, it is not shown in Connection Expert. In most cases, this means that the instrument has been disconnected or turned off.

  • For instruments connected via LAN,
    • LAN instruments that are on your local subnet may have been discovered but are not listed in the Instruments list. Select the LAN interface, click Add, then LAN Instrument and locate the instrument in the list. Check the instrument check box then click OK to add it to the Instruments list.

    • Instruments that are not on your local subnet must be manually added to your configuration. Select the LAN interface, then Add, then LAN Instrument, then Manually Enter Address. Specify the Host name or IP address and protocol, the tab to add instruments to your configuration by specifying hostname or IP address. (Note: The default LAN interface is TCPIP0. If you added a LAN interface, such as TCPIP1, then select the interface where you expect to find the instrument.

    • Some older LAN instruments on your local subnet also may not be found via auto-discovery. You can select the LAN interface, then Add, then LAN Instrument, then Enter Address, to manually add an instrument that is not discovered by the Discovery Service.

    • To ensure that auto-discovery is effective, verify that AutoIP is not used in any instrument and, if your PC has multiple Network Interface Cards (NICs), that each NIC has a different network address.

 

Instrument Details and Interface Details

The contents of the right pane may vary depending on whether you have an instrument or an interface selected. For example, there are more toolbar buttons if you have an instrument selected.

For additional information on editable properties of interfaces, see the interface-specific topics under Editing Existing Instruments and Interfaces.

Instrument details may include manufacturer, model, serial number, firmware version, connection strings (VISA and SICL addresses) and connection status, VISA aliases, etc. Interface details include interface IDs, logical units, as well as other properties (which vary by interface type).

Available toolbar buttons

To rescan or refresh the details of the instrument or interface that is selected on the left, click the Check Status button in the right pane's toolbar. (If an interface is selected, this button is called Rescan.)

 

When you select an instrument or interface from the list in the left pane in Instruments view, its properties or details are displayed on the right.

Click the button, change properties as needed, and click OK to apply the changes.

Properties vary by instrument or interface type.

 

To remove an instrument (or interface) from the Instrument View list, select it in the left pane, and click Remove from the toolbar in the right pane.

 

This button in the Details pane launches a browser open to the Keysight Technologies web page for this product. This button is available only for Keysight, Agilent, and Hewlett-Packard instruments.

 

This button appears in the Details pane if a selected LAN instrument serves a Web page. It opens a browser on that Web page. Typically, this Web page shows you instrument information, including its IP address, and provides some level of instrument control and access to instrument data. GPIB, USB, etc. instruments do not have this option.

About instrument details

This section of the view displays instrument or interface-specific details.

Connection Strings

Click next to any connection string to expand the related fields (VISA Address, SICL Address, Aliases, and Send Command).

VISA Address

One instrument can have several VISA addresses. Reasons for this include:

  • An instrument may use multiple protocols on LAN. In this case, there will be an address for each protocol connection: for example, TCPIP0::myhost.mycompany.com::inst0::INSTR and TCPIP0::myhost.mycompany.com::5025::SOCKET.

  • An instrument may have more than one physical connection: for example, it may be connected to your PC via USB, and also be connected to the LAN on your local subnet. These connections will be shown as separate addresses: for example, GPIB::5::INSTR and TCPIP0::myhost.mycompany.com::inst0::INSTR.

VISA aliases are also shown in this area.

A green checkmark symbol by a VISA address indicates that the associated connection is operational.

A red X symbol indicates that the connection is not working correctly.

SICL Address

One instrument can have several SICL addresses, for the same reasons it can have several VISA addresses (see above).

Send Command

Use the Send Command field and the Send & Read button to send commands (such as *IDN) to the connected instrument.

 

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